The Meta-Analytic Organization

The Meta-Analytic Organization: Introducing Statistico-Organizational Theory develops new organizational theory based upon ideas from statistics and methodology.

There have been previous organizational theories based on academic disciplines such as biology, economics, and sociology. Statistico-organizational theory uniquely constructs a new organizational theory derived from ideas in statistics and psychometrics. The core idea is that errors known to occur in social science research must also occur when managers look at their data and seek to make inferences about cause and effect. Statistico-organizational theory uses methodological principles to predict when errors will occur and how great they will be.

The book offers new theoretical propositions about organizational strategy and structure, human resource management, international business and franchising.

Lex Donaldson is a professor of management in organizational design at the Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Sydney. His work includes a significant contribution to the development of contingency theory as well as founding stewardship theory―which has become a major influence in the area of corporate governance. He is the author of six books about organizations and management, among them: The Contingency Theory of Organizations, Performance-Driven Organizational Change, and For Positivist Organization Theory. In 2003 he received one of the highest possible accolades: a worldwide survey of ninety-five academics from the Academy of Management Learning and Education nominated his work on the Contingency Theory of Organizational Structures as one of the world’s top seventy-three management theories, ranked on criteria of importance, usefulness to management practice, and scientific validity.